For Muslims around the world, Ramadan is a time of fasting, prayer, charitable work and providing community assistance. In China, March 10 to April 9 are Muslim holidays, and restrictions in some areas where Hui Muslims live have triggered heated discussions.

Hui Muslims are the second largest Muslim population in China after the Turkic-speaking Uyghurs, with a population of over 10 million.

One day after the religious festival began, the Yuxi Municipal Government in Yunnan Province issued an emergency notice. The notice requires party committees, governments and education departments at all levels to conduct comprehensive investigations and strictly prohibit Muslim party members and minors from participating in religious activities such as fasting.

While the document states that fasting is one of the religious activities of Islam, it adds that in order to maintain political discipline, CCP members should be staunch Marxist atheists and are not allowed to participate in religious activities.

The document emphasizes the principle of separation of education and religion, stating that schools and training institutions are strictly prohibited from providing services for minors to participate in religious activities. It also said that individuals or organizations that breach the restrictions will be subject to severe penalties.

“Now schools do not allow children to fast, and Yuxi has begun to implement the requirements of this notice,” a Muslim surnamed Na told VOA Chinese. Na did not reveal his full name for security reasons.

“I went to Tonghai two days ago and talked to locals. The mosque was not investigated,” Na said. “Only schools tell children not to fast and what punishment they will face if they fast. They are also asked to monitor who is fasting in their family.”

Public primary schools in Yuxi City also conducted a questionnaire among lower grade students, asking whether anyone in the family fasted or prayed.

A CCP Muslim in Yunnan surnamed Wang said that since the beginning of Ramadan, the local government has tightened control. In every party meeting he attended, leaders emphasized that CCP members should not pray.

Ruslan Yusupov, a researcher at Cornell University Humanities Society who studies Islam in China, told VOA Chinese that the notice is related to a national document previously issued by the China Islamic Association. This also indicates that the Chinese government will further restrict religious freedom nationwide.

“Before Xi Jinping took office, fasting was considered a national custom and enjoyed certain freedoms,” he said. “Even among Chinese Communist Party members and officials, many people fast. Under Xi Jinping, fasting is considered a religious activity and is subject to increasing restrictions, demonstrating the government’s use of unofficial measures to control and suppress religion .”

Muhammad Alsudairi, an Islamic studies scholar at the Australian National University, worries that the implementation of the notice may lead to greater oppression and exclusion of the Muslim community, aggravate social tensions, and be detrimental to the harmony and stability of Chinese society.

Alsuderi said: “The notice emphasizes that members of the Communist Party of China must firm their atheistic stance and are strictly prohibited from participating in religious activities. This shows that the Chinese government is trying to bring religious management into the scope of political control and strengthen the management of religion.” Politicized management of religion. “

This move by the Yuxi government is not an isolated incident. Zhoukou, Luoyang, Zhumadian, Jiaozuo and other places in Henan Province have all received notices prohibiting minors from entering mosques. Some mosques have posted signs prohibiting minors from entering at their doors.

A Muslim government worker in Gansu province said mosques there had recently been restricted, requiring them to retain only half of their current students. The remaining students were asked to return home.

“The rule that CCP members are not allowed to enter mosques to pray has been in place for many years,” the staff member said. “Gansu Province has not issued relevant documents requiring CCP members not to fast. In sharp contrast, I heard that in Xinjiang, , providing lunch to Muslims during Ramadan to ensure Muslims can eat under supervision.”

In November, Human Rights Watch reported that Chinese authorities began drastically reducing the number of mosques in provinces such as Ningxia and Gansu after two-thirds of mosques in Xinjiang, home to Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims, had been damaged or destroyed. There is a large Muslim population. Inhabited by Hui Muslims.

Ai Yundong, chief of the Ethnic Section of the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau of Yuxi City, Yunnan Province, told VOA Mandarin that the main purpose of the document is to ensure that religious activities are carried out within the legal framework and do not affect social order. Stabilize the educational order.

“The purpose of this document is to maintain the political discipline of CCP members and minors, strictly implement national religious affairs policies and regulations, and ensure that religious activities are carried out within the legal scope and do not affect social stability and educational order,” Ai said.

He said that fasting, as an Islamic religious activity, falls within the scope of freedom of religious belief, but strict political neutrality must be maintained in public places, and minors must not be forced or facilitated to participate in religious activities.

He said that this document aims to strengthen the education and guidance for CCP members and minors, safeguard their political stance, protect the legitimate rights and interests of minors, and prevent them from being adversely affected and infiltrated by religious extremism.

VOA contacted the Yunnan Islamic Association for comment, and a staff member at the association told him he was unaware of the notice. VOA also contacted the Yuxi Islamic Association several times, but no one answered.

Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.